What is a DLL and How Do I Create or Use One?

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DLL is an acronym for "Dynamic Link Library". Otherwise known by the more generic name "shared object library", this is a collection of common functions and data entities which a program may refer to at run time, without requiring the function code or data to be duplicated within the program file itself.

A single DLL may be shared by many programs, while requiring only one copy of the DLL function code and data to be stored on the system.

Guidance on creating and deploying a DLL with MinGW may be found in the following articles:--